Pulse echo tracking system



June 7, 1960 P. B. SPRANGER ETAI- 2,940,073

PULSE ECHO TRACKING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 17, 1956 NVENTOR. ,0A uz 5. 5pm/v6.54?

./. l/A Amas T R E Y June 7, 1960 P. B. SPRANGER ETAI- 2,940,073

PULSE EcEo TRACKING SYSTEM -2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17, 1956 .on R nu MN Vm my 5. M m

BY PAM J. I/A/vaai ATTORN EY vom 'i PULSE aci-1o mancante SYSTEM Paul E. Sprenger', Sherman Oaks, andrPaul I". various,

Reseda, Calif., assignors to Bendix Aviation Corporation, North Hollywood, Calif., a corporation of Delaware raga May 17, 195s, seaNo-.sssna 1s claims (Cl. sas- 7.3)

This invention relates to pulse echo systems for tracking a moving target. i Present pulse radar systems operate .by ,transmitting pulses of high freequency `radio energy, and` `receiving back echo pulses reflected from a target. The timeelapse between transmission and reception is thenscsed'ltolindicatethe distance to the-target. i Y

While tracking a moving target' by radar, pulses may be reected from objects other thanbthe target to vforni spurious echo signals lor pulses `,whichrnay interfere .with tracking. When asp'urious signal `occurs during thersarne time' i'nterval as a pulse .reflected ,from the target being tracked, the radar systemmaylockuponthe objectcreating the large spurious signaLand the target will be lost'. K Briefly, the present invention is asystem for attenuating spurious pulses `occurring in a rellected .video signal, .while Patented dune 3?, 19d@ 2. volume 19-oftheRadiation Laboratories Series entitled; Was/elimina, published by McGraw-Hill Book :Com- Dany- A sawtoothpulse 10 will thus issue from the vamplitude selector .6 `time displaced from the' ysynchronizing.signal 4-an vamount'proportional' tothe magnitude of the yselection voltageon theline 8. The pulse 1'0- is alsoshown `in Fig. 2C, in time relationship to other signals. Theisawtooth pulse 10 is applied to an early `gate generator 112 `whichcomprises a dilerentiatingV circuit serving toform an early gate pulse 14 upon receipt ofthe beginningof the sawtooth pulse 10. Thegate pulse 14, as shownin Fig. 2D, is .applied -tofan early Vgate 16 and to a .latergate genera-tor 18,. The late gate ,generator 18 vessentially comprises avdelaycireuit which serves to delay `thefearly gate pulse 14-.by .aj-period' equal to the time duration of the ,pulse 1A, :thereby 'forming a late .gate pulse '20 as shownv inlfig. 2E. Thelate gate' pulse Z0 is applied to a late gate 2&2. Thetearlylgate 16 andi-the late gatel 22;:are thus-.each `fopened :for `brief sequential intervals of :time occurngaapfter .the synchronizing lsignal 4. These gates arentilized to ,pass .a selected' portion of the reflected video signal infwhich a major :portion-of the targetpulse .willlbe contained.

system .which 4operates in Vamode broadly similar to Ithe' system of Fig. 'l is shown and described on'page preserving Adesired reflected targetpulses. The :reflected video signal, upon being received, is delayed. The delayed video signal is then subtractinely combined with-the reflected video -signal ,to forma combined video signalin which portions of spurious Yimpulses will be kattenuated by subtractive cancellation. The combined video signal is then rectied to form a .reined -video .signal in .which spurious pulse amplitudes have been attenuated while targetrpulse amplitude is preserved.

An object of the present invention .is to provide an improved' pulse echo tracking system. Y

Anoier object is to provide a radar system having l.irnproved immunity -to spurious pulses.

Another object is to provide a selec-.tive circuit for attenuating signals havinga time durationabove apredetermined value, while passing signals .unattenuated which have a time duration under the ,predetermined value.

Other and incidental objects kand features of the invention will appear from the folowing description with reference to the drawings. f

Fig. l is a block and schematic diagram of a portionof a radar receivingr system incorporating `the invention.

Fig. 2 shows various waveforms illustrating theoperation of the system of Fig. '1.

Fig. 3 shows other waveforms illustrating the operation ofthe invention.

The system of Fig. l includes a sweep generator 2 connected to receive a radar synchronizing signal in the form of a pulse d. The sweep generator 2 functions to generate a voltage which increases in substantially la linear fashion after the synchronizing signal d is received. The synchronizing signal 4 is also shown in .2A and ,is time' related to the transmission of ,a .pulse from the radar system, the reilection of which will Aindicate the target.

The output from the sweep generator 2, .the waveform of which is shown in Fig. 2B, is applied toanl amplitude selector iwhicli also receives a voltage via aline S. The amplitude selector 6 functions to pass that portion of the sweep signal `from the sweep generator Z which :lies Ibeyond ,the value of the selection voltage `appearing .on the lineS. Amplitude selectors of ,thistype are wellfknown, and are shown and described beginning on page 325 of- 342 of Volume 20 of the YRadiation Laboratories "Series entitled, ,Electronic Time Measurements, published by McGraw-,Hill .Book Company.

The time interval between theoccurrence of vthe synchronizing'signal t .and `the pulse 31.4- -serving to open 'the early gate-.16 is controlled by :the magnitude of lthe selection voltage applied yto theamplitudeselectore, lvia'fthe line 8. Since the synchronizing signal 4 is time relatedft'o the ,transmitted .pulsdna1desired-targetzpulse,fiael, pulse-.reflected' from a desired target, may be selected' by varying the selection voltage :applied Ato the yamplitude selector 6; via the line 8, to open lthe.,gatesw1;t5 Yand 22'satla .time to pass at. leasta part ofthe desired targetrpulse.

Thereected yvideo signal ,shown Fig. .2F ris applied toa video amplifier 24, Vthe-.output of which is connected toa spurious signal attenuator 26, `the operation of which will later be .described in detail,l kwhich is in` turn' con'-` nected to .a -video amplifier 28. The output of the yvideo amplifierZS is fed to .the early gate fle and-the ylate gate' 22. Thatpor-tion of the videosignal-which coincides in time with the gate pulse Mis passed bythe early gate circuit 16, whereas lthe portion of the video signal which coincides with the late gate'pulse'ttl is passed by the late` gate circuit 22. The signals passed by the early gate 16 and the late gate 22 are both applied vto a coincidence detector circuit 30, which isin turn connected to anrintegrator circuit 32. The integrator circuit 32 is connected to vthegline 8, and to a diterentiator circuit 3ft.A The'differentiator -circuit 34 is connected through an ampliie'r circuit .3.6 and a switch 3S to a polar relay 4t) within the spuriouss'ignal attenuatord.

.As shownin Fig. 2F, the reilected video signal contains`V a ;reected target pulse 42' and a spurious impulse 44; Considerat'ion of Fig. 2 will indicate vthat 'the portion oliV the reflected video signalof Fig. Z'F'which lies' under -tli'e' early gating' ypulse 14' will' be vpassed by thev `,early gate 16, and the portion 'of thereected video signal which ,lies underthe' late gatepul'se Ztl'willbe passed -by the late gate circuit 221. These portions areA so timed as to'include the target'pulse 42;..7 In the event thatr the targetlpulsesl is essentially' equally divided b y the boundary'tbetweenthe early' gating pulse 14 andV the late gating pulse ltkztherr equal signals .are :passed by the .-gatecircuits 16 nndfm; and .anequilibrium condition will texist. If-,phoweven one ofthe gate circuits 16 or 22 passes a larger portion coincidence detector 30 serving essentially to perform a subtraction of the signals passed by the gate circuits 16 -and 22, and to form control signals which are used to Vvary the timing of the gate circuits 16 and 22.

If the 'gate 16 passes a larger portion of the target 'pulse than the gate circuit 22, then a more positive voltage will Vbe formed by the coincidence detector 30.` If, however,

the late gate 22 passes a larger portion of the energy content of the target pulse 42 than theearly'gate circuit 16, then a more negative voltage will be generated by the coincidence detector 30.

The signals issuing from the coincidence detector 30 are integrated into a smooth direct voltage by the inte- -grator circuit 32 and clamped to form the selection fvoltage to be applied back to the amplitude selector 6 via the line 8. In this manner, variations from the equilibrium state (when equal portions of the target impulse are carried by the gate circuits 16 and 22) vary the magnitude of the selection voltage applied to the amplitude selector 6 via the line 8. Variation in the selection `voltage varies the time of the occurrence of the sawtooth .pulse 10 with respect to the synchronizing signal 4, thereby in turn varying the timing of theopen intervals of the gate vcircuits 16 Yand 22 in such a manner as to tend to'return rthe system to its equilibrium state. YVIn Athis manner, an

initially-selected target will be tracked l by the radar receiver through various movements toward or away from the radar set.

ventional and is described in the above referenced volume 20 ofthe Radiation Laboratories Series. As hitherto used, the output of the video amplifier 24Ywas connecteddirectly to the gates 16 and 22. In such systems, the gating circuits function to lock on the desired target pulse andV follow it as the target approaches or recedes. When the target motion is uniform, the gates remain in synchronism with the desired target pulse even if the latter is not received for an interval. Thus, referring to Fig. 2F, if the target is approaching at a uniform rate, the target pulse 42 will Ypass through and be temporarily lost in the stronger spurious pulse 44. Despite the temporary loss of the .target signal, the gates will continue to advance and will contacts 40a of the polar relay 40. The diode s6 is connected through an inverter circuit 60 to the stationary contacts 401:.

Video signals appearing'at the point 51 pass through the delay line 52, and, by reason of the fact that the delay Vline is grounded,V are reflected back through the delay line, and reappear at the point 51 inverted in form and delayed in time by an linterval coinciding to twice the delay o f the delay line 52.r The effect of the resistor and the delay line 52 is thus to delay the reflected video signal by a predetermined amount, and then to subtractively combine the delayed video signal with the received video signal to form a combined video signal.

Consider now Fig. 3 which illustrates the effect of the delay and subtraction, i.e., delay, inversion, and algebraic combination. Fig. 3 is divided into columns l, II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII. Each of the columns shown in Fig. 3A shows a shadowed representation of a target pulse placed on a common time base with a larger spurious signal pulse. The diterent columns show dierent time relationships between `the spurious pulse and the target pulse. The pulses are idealizedb in Yform for illustrative purposes. Fig. 3B indicates the effect of a delaying and 'inverting the received signals shown in Fig. 3A as accomplished by the resistor 50 and the delay line 52 in the manner explained.

. Fig. 3C sfthe summation of the signals shown in Figs.

l3A Yand 3B, and shows the signal which willappear at the point 51; i.e., the algebraically combined video signals and delayed video signals. Fig; 3D shows the signalappearing'at the contacts 40a when the signal of Fig.V 3C isfpassed through the rectifier 54 and the delay line 58. As lshown in Fig. 3, the delay line 58 produces the same delay in the video signal as the delay line 52; Fig. 3E

shows the signal appearing at'the'contact 40b when the signal of Fig. 3C is passed through the rectifier 56 and `the inverter 60.

'i Consider now that the target is closing on the radar set,

, the spurious pulse at contacts 40a and 40b has been so be in synchronism with the target pulse when it emerges from the spurious pulse 44. However, a serious defect of the former system is that at the time of emergence of the target pulse 42 from the spurious pulse 44, the energy from the spurious signal passed by gate 20 (Fig. 2E) may kbe so much greater than the energy from the target signal passed by gate 14 (Fig. 2D) thatrthe gates stop moving with the target signal and lock on the spurious signal so that the target signal is lost. The present invention involving the spurious signal attentuator 26 greatly reduces the possibility of the gates locking on a spurious signalY as the desired target pulse emerges therefrom.

v,Consideration will now be made of the spurious signal attentuator 26, and the manner in which it functions to attenuate large spurious pulses toallow tracking through such signals. The video signal from the. video amplifierl altered as to never have a greater time duration than the desired target signal. A

In Fig. 3A, the target pulse moves to the left from time h in column I to time b in column VII. VAt the time of emergence (column VI) of the target pulse from the spurious pulse, there would be a strong tendency, Without the present invention, for the gates to lock onto the spurious pulse because the late gate would pass more energy from ythe spurious pulse than the early gate would pass` from the vtarget pulse. However, with the present invention, the pulses passing through and controlling Vthe timing of the gates arethose shown in Fig. 3D, in whichY it is to be noted that at no time does the remnant of the spurious pulse exceed the target pulse in width. Of more importance, when the target pulse leaves the spurious pulse (column VI), the latter is no larger than the target pulse so there is little tendency for the gates to lock onto the spurious pulse. In column IV there is a tendency for the gates to recognize the spurious pulse rather than the target pulse; however, this does not create a problem except at the time when they Vtarget pulse departs from the spurious pulse. That is, when the spurious pulse becomes separated from the target pulse as shown in columns II and VI, it is important that the target pulse be as large as therspurious pulse as shown in4 Figs. 3D and 3E.;y

i ItrnayV therefore'fbe seen that at the time when the tracked target range is closing,*it will be desirable to use the signal passing through the delay line 58; i.e.,the signal Yshown 'in Fig. 3D. If, however, the target range is opening, then the sequence of events, as shown by the columns YI, II, arid III of Fig.' 3, will be reversed. That is,

andar VII will occur rst and AcolumnI last,- asrthe shadowed targetsignal crosses the spurious signal from left to right. Consideration of Fig. 3D will indicate'that if vthis signal is used, the spurious signal as shownin column V will' be larger in amplitude than the desired target pulse when the crossing is completed; therefore, this signal is unsatisfactory for an opening target. If, however, the sequence of events is vfrom Ycolumn VII to column I, their the target pulse in Fig. 3E. will depart from the spurious .signal (column AH) at the same amplitudeas the spurioussignal. It is therefore desirable to utilize the signal shown in Fig. 3E, iae., the signal passing -through'the inverter circuit 60, .when the target range is opening. Movement .of the target pulse into a spurious pulse of larger magnitude is not undesirable, as it will always be lost in a larger spurious pulseand the exact location wont be ascertained. The movement of the target pulse out of the spurious pulse is, however, critical in that the time of separation is the time when the system may lose the target pulse by locking on the spurious pulse.

Selection of the rectified signal to be utilized is effected by the polar relay 4t). In the event that a closing target is observed, the voltage from the integrator 32 will be decreasing, to cause -the timing interval between the transmitted pulse and the gating pulses to decrease. By reason of the fact that this signal is decreasing in magnitude, the differentiator circuit 34 will form a negative Voltage. The negative voltage from the difi'erentiator circuit 34 will be amplified by the ampliier circuit 36, and applied through the switch 38 to the polar relay 40, causing the movable contact of the polar relay to be raised, as shown. With the movable contact of the polar relay 40 raised, the video signal of Fig. 3D, passing through rectifier 54, will be utilized as the video signal.

When the target range is opening, the voltage from the integrator circuit 32 is incerasing, and diiierentiation of such a voltage by the diilerentiator circuit 34 results in a positive Voltage. The positive voltage from the differentiator circuit 34, when amplied by the amplifier circuit 36 and applied to the polar relay 4i), causes the movable contact of the polar relay 40 to drop to the lower position. With the movable contact of the polar relay in the lower position, the Video signal from the inverter circuit 60 will be passed to the video amplifier 28.

It may therefore be seen that during intervals when the target range is closing, the signals shown in Fig. 3D are utilized; and, when the target range is opening, the signals represented by Fig. 3E are utilized. The system may thus be seen to operate either upon closing or opening targets to maintain target lock-on by attenuating spurious impulses to such a degree that their widths do not exceed the desired target signal, and reducing the amplitude of spurious signals with respect to the desired target signals, such that as the two signals separate, the spurious signal will always be no greater than the target signal.

In certain tracking operations, targets will always be closing. During such operations, the circuitry provided for opening target conditions may be disabled by the switch 38. When the switch 38 is thrown to apply a negative voltage to ythe polarized relay 40, the movable contact of the relay 40 will be maintained in a raised position. 'Ihe closing target mode of operation will thus be maintained. It is noteworthy that during this mode of operation, the delay line S8 and rectifier 54 are not used, and can be eliminated from systems utilized only to track closing targets.

Although for the purpose of explaining the invention, particular embodiments thereof have been shown and described, obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art, and we do not desire to be limited to the exact details shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a pulse echo target tracking system means for receiving a reflected video signal having spurious impulses and target impulses; means for delaying` vsaid reflected video signal' .to-form' a .delayed rvideo signal',y means- 1to1' subtractively combining said' reiected signal' and ysaid delayed video signal to formvv a' difference Vvideo.l signal having negative and positive signal :fluctuations .of said difference video signa; .tracking means for detecting the mode of movement of a target; and means 'forzpassing certain of: said signal fluctuations to said track-ing! means controlled by the .mode of movement of said target.

2. In a pulser echo target-tracking@system: means for receivng a reiiected `video signal; ymeans for delaying said reflected video signal to form a delayed video signal; means for subtractively combining' said reflected video signal and' saiddelayed video signal' to form a combined video signalpmeans for separatingA said combined video signal into a positive fluctuation signal and a negative fluctuation signal; tracking means for determining the mode of movement of atarget being tracked by said system; and switching' means? lfor applying one of said liuctuation signals to lsaid tracking means controlled by the mode of movement of said target being tracked.

3. In a pulse echo target-tracking system: means for receiving a reflected video signal; means for delaying said reflected video signal to form a delayed video signal; means for subtractively combining. said reected video signal and said delayed video signal to form a combined video signal, first rectifier means for passing one portion of said combined video signal lying above a reference level, second rectifier means for passing another portion of said combined video signal lying below said reference level, tracking means for sensing the mode of movement of a target being tracked by said system; and means for applying one of said portions of said video signal to said tracking means controlled by the mode of movement of said target.

4. In a pulse echo target-trackingsystem: means for receiving a reflected video signal; means for delaying said reliected video signal to form a delayed video signal; means for subtractively combining said reliected video signal and said delayed video signal to form a combined signal, means for separating said combined video signal into a positive fluctuation signal and a negative ucutation signal, phase adjustment means for placing said positive and said negative llucutation signals in a similar phase, tracking means for determining the mode of movement of a target being tracked; and switching means for applying one of said flucutation signals to said tracking means.

5. A system according to claim 4 wherein said means for delaying said reiiected video signal and said'means for substractively combining said reliected video signal and said delayed video signal comprises a delay line connected to reiiect said reected video signalin an inverted form.

.6. A system according to claim 4 wherein said means for separating comprises iirst and second oppositely poled diodes connected to receive said combined video signal.

7. A system according to claim 4 wherein said phase adjustment means comprises a delay means acting upon one of said fluctuation signals.

8. In a range-tracking pulse echo distance-measuring system in which spaced signal pulses of fixed time duration are transmited, and pulses are received and desired echo pulses filtered from undesired pulses non-coincident therewith by a tracking gating device, apparatus for modifying received pulses prior to application to the gating device, to reduce interference by spurious pulses closely time-related to desired echo pulses, said apparatus comprising: means for deriving froml received pulses first and second trains of corresponding unidirectional electric pulses, said second train delayed said lixed time with respect to said irst train; means'for subtractively combining said two trains of pulses to cancel coincident pulses therein and produce a third train of pulses containing pulses corresponding to uncanceled pulses of said iirst and second trains; and means for selecting from said third 'tran'r'a fourth train of pulsescorresponding to uncanceled pulses of one only of saidiirst and second trains, for application toisaid gating device.

9. AApparatus according to claim 8 in which said fourth train corresponds to said'iirsttrain, and including means for delaying said-fourthrtrain of pulses said xed time prior -tro application thereof tosaid gating device. ,l 10. Apparatusaccording to claim 9 including means for selecting, vfrom said third train, a fifth 'train'of pulses Vand second trains comprises: means for deriving said-firstv trairifro'rrsaid received pulses; a reection circuit having .a terminal to which said first train is applied and functioning to reect back to said terminal delayed and polarityinverted pulses of said first train combining with the latter at said terminal to produce `said third train.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12in whichl said means for selecting said fourth train comprises a rectifying .circuit connected to said terminal and poled to pass only pulses of the polarity of said rst train.

.1k 14. Apparatus according to claim 12 including a rectifying circuit connected to said terminal and poled to pass only a -fth train of pulses of opposite polarity to said first train. i,

`15. Apparatus according toclaim 14 including means forinvertingrthe polarity ofsaid fifth train of pulses.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES lPpm-:Nrs

,2,523,283 Dickson Sept. 26, 1950 

